Four months ago I began my grandest adventure yet. 

An abridged version goes a little something like this: 

We met online, started talking and decided to meet for a drink. He was cute and funny and charming and we hit it off right away. He opens doors, he likes the music that I like, he cooks and he buys me flowers. Within the first few weeks of dating we went hiking and camping several times. We went to a few concerts, he met most of my friends and passed their tests with flying colors. We quickly fell into a state of bliss and everything was fantastic. 

Then about 6 weeks in he got a phone call from his bosses.... "We want you to move to San Francisco," they said. "We want to give you lots of money" they said. "Oh yeah and we want you to do this RIGHT NOW!" they said.

Well, of course this shook up our plans totally upside down. But part of his negation skills included securing a travel fund from the company. We have a magical credit card that lets us fly from CA to VA whenever we want to. It has been hard to be apart and have so much change all at once, but we still have fun when we are together, we talk as often as possible and he still makes me smile. 

Also, that travel fund has been a life saver. I was able to fly to San Diego for Thanksgiving and meet his family and now he is flying here for Christmas and we will go down to Florida to see my family for New Years. We have a few more trips planned including Spring Break in Iceland (stay tuned for that post).

It has not been easy but...with the joys of technology and the travel fund.... we are making the distance work.  

Albanian Adventures: Tirana edition

We were only in Tirana for two days. It was hot but it was a great visit to Albania's capital city.  

In the center of this city there is a statue of Skanderbeg... He was kind of an awesome sneaky dude who spent many years training with the Ottoman military but then he left them and returned to his people and ended up defeating the Ottomans. He is kinda big deal here!

While in Tirana, we ate a lot of meat, drank A LOT of coffee and hung out with some very great people who have some pretty cool life stories they shared. We were lucky enough to have very few crowds at most of the places we went. It is holiday season here so EVERYONE is at the beach (therefore the city was empty) We saw on the news and heard from some other travelers about the ridiculous amounts of traffic on the roads going to the beach and the increased police presence needed at the beaches. I assume it's like staying in DC for Memorial Day weekend. Kinda an awesome ghost town. It was a quick but awesome stop on our Albanian tour. 

After Tirana we took the bus to Shkoder for one day in prep for our trek to the mountains!!! 

The foods of Albania

Current favorite: Fli (delicate layer upon layer of crepe-like pancakes cooked for hours by the cousin of our Valbone Guest House owner) 

The food up in the mountains is much heavier and more filling than we have had in other places. Still most meals consisting of cheese, sausage, yogurt and at least one, if not many types of peppers. 

In Sarande we had sausage with green beans and yogurt. It was filling but a little lighter because it was 9 Thousand degrees on the beach. 

Then in Gjirokaster things had more of a spinach/vegetable base...we had muskata (a sort of pastery layering with vegetables like lasagna... Sort of) and we had baked spinach with egg, peppers and cheese and then the top right pic... Stuffed peppers with rice and cheese and yum!

In Tirana we had meat... All of the meat. Albanian meatballs: that actually look more like small hamburger patties for sliders.

Spicy sausage and white sausage and the best one... Kosovo sausage. Originally from Kosovo and made with spices that are awesome. A little like paprika and chili powder maybe.  Either way.. Very good. 

In the mountains of Valbone meals are heavier and heartier. 

This polenta dish with little hidden pockets of cheese and peppers. We have actually had a fair amount of fresh salads too. All things grown in their gardens! 

The meats have all been fresh too... Fresher than I like to think about... Being that we are living in the farm (eeeeek)

There is always cheese and then the yogurt with peppers.  At the Villa Dini Guest House we have had the best of this yet... It's like they infused the yogurt with the peppers it's amazing. 

And of course... Everything is better with beers and an amazing view!

Back in Shkoder we had amazing stuffed peppers and stuffed eggplant and of course more cheese!

Albania has been very good to us. 

We move on to Montenergo today... Let's see what tasty treats they have to offer. 

Albanian Adventures (part 1)

We have been in Albania for a few days now. We started in Sarande, a beach town with the port to Greece and a promenade/boardwalk area. The ferry over from Corfu, Greece was super easy and pretty quick (about 70 minutes) we got off the ferry and walked to our hostel. The owner (Tomi) met us outside and showed us through town. We exchanged money and found a little spot by the beach for lunch.

We didn't do much in Sarande and only planned for one night there. Which was enough.  The next day we got on the bus for the hour and a half ride to Gjirokaster!

The ride was pretty crappy... Really hot on a tiny bus going back and forth on many many switchbacks. And then when we got off we had to walk about 40 mins straight UP to get from the bus station to the Old Town. But once we were there it was well worth it. 

Gjirokaster is a cute little small town at the base of an old castle. They are just starting to get tourists and have never had anyone from The United States. One woman who runs the little souvenir shop speaks English and was eager to practice with us. Her daughter obviously is learning English in school and was very helpful when we wanted to buy a new SIM card for Scott's phone. The youngest boy who helped run our hotel had semi great English skills too. But he was so damn cute and happy it didn't matter. Also: I think we may have been their first guests. Our hotel (Hotel Domino) was newly renovated from what I can only assume was like many of the other buildings there with shale roofs and stone walls. Best of all it had AC. A must for our journeyed we have agreed. 

We hiked up to the castle and explored it's many ruins and rubble. It felt a list like Indiana Jones. 

There is a big presence of the fall of communism throughout Albania I am noticing and I have read that we will see more of it in Tirana.

We had a traditional dinner and enjoyed breakfast made by the little family that runs our hotel before loading up with snacks and hopping on the possibly 7 hour bus to Tirana (Albania's capital city).

 More adventure awaits. 

Euro adventure 2015

We just finished the main program for GYLC 2015 in Europe. We had a rockstar team and some very awesome fun times!! 

We started in Vienna, hung out at the Pyramide hotel, went to Sand in the City and of course had a great trip to Grumpelskrichen!!

After Vienna was Prague. While we did have one FA need to visit the hospital for food poisoning... Overall, we made it through with relative ease. It was wicked hot so the masses beggars and pickpockets did not want to hang out for too long on Charles Bridge so we got across swimmingly And the kids were all too hot to get lost and so we were able to reboard in the fastest time I think I have ever experienced. 

Luckily we had Jean ready to Sweep kids with her handy Segway! 

On the way to Berlin we stopped for lunch in Dresden. We went to one of the best ice cream shops I've ever had and then I broke my rule of "no McDonald's" when I saw that they had Minons in the Happy Meal toys! My kids will love it.

Next was Berlin. We were warned of the upcoming heatwave so we had to prepare with extra water for the kids... Enter the stellar Ops team. We stole (I mean, borrowed) a shopping cart and got 250 bottles of water from the grocery store down the street. I could just image the hand we could play in "Ops poker" 'Three Operators arrested in Berlin for petty theft'   We were not caught. In Berlin, We had some student issues which resulted in many sleepless nights and we had to rearrange the entire schedule due to the HEATWAVE! But it worked out well... Zero heat strokes and all sights were still seen. (Even though I did not take any pictures on those days...oops)

I am currently on the bus for our add-on program to Munich which will include a day trip to Salzburg and some time hanging out in the Alps. After the kids leave Scott and I will start our "personal extension" adventures in Albania and Croatia and around. I am looking forward to not having a schedule and name badge hanging around my neck. 

Avon 39

 I spent this beautiful Spring morning walking with my friend, Michelle.  In two weeks Michelle will be participating in the Avon 39 Walk to End Breast Cancer.  As part of her training she has to do long walks on the weekends. Today she asked me to join her on her 16 mile practice walk.

 Walking is a lot different from running. It took us about 5 hours, with a good little break there in the middle at The Dubliner. We learned that it is 8 miles from Irelands Four Courts to The Dubliner (good information for next St. Patrick's Day.)
It takes a lot of patience to walk for that long. But luckily we had great conversation and of course plenty of people watching. Gotta love Tourist Season in the City.

While we walked, Erin was riding her bike trying to meet up with us. We decided to send her a Photo Scavenger Hunt so that she could track our path. (Can you name each location??)

At one point, we accidentally joined the Lupus Walk but we fit right in. We thought about taking the waters they offered but passed, I was prepared with my camelpak of course!

When we got to The Capitol, Erin found us! 

Just doing 16 miles this morning was A LOT and my knees and feet HURT. I can not imagine the women who will be walking more than double that in two weeks. I am so proud of Michelle and admire her and her strength so much!  

You should check out Michelle's walk page and donate to this amazing woman and her important cause. GO MICHELLE!!!!!

click here

BirthMonth 2014

So its been about 5 months since my BirthMonth but I guess its better late than never.

September was a fun month. We did a lot of fun things....kayaking, breweries, brunches, concerts and fun!

As we all know, I am a little crazy about my BirthMonth...case in point, I call it my BirthMonth. #sorryimnotsorry to all other people born in September... its mine!

It is a fun time for everyone though, I promise. It is a month of good times and good friends. I am always moved by the friends who come out to celebrate with me!! I am so loved!

We spent a Sunday at the Port City Brewery... they said we could bring our own snacks. So we did :)

On one of the hottest days EVER, we ran a 5K in honor of the heros of 9-11.

There was brunch at The Lincoln followed by a Nats Game of epic fun times.

We went to the Guster concert. Merriweather Post Pavilion knows me so well and loves my BirthMonth too, they gave me VIP passes. It was great! We had access to private bathrooms and bars with no lines! It was a cold rainy day but we had a great time anyway!

Then, in full BirthMonth tradition, we spent the night before my actual Birthday at Whitlows Rooftop. My WorkWives made sure I had a good time!

On my actual Birthday, my brother came to town and we went to Buffalo Billiards for the Gator game and fun times. Andy made us cupcakes and, in honor of my awesome students this year, the theme was Ninja Turtles and Pirates!!   

Gotta love turning 33!

After all of the partying and drinking, we needed a little "detoxing"... so Andrea and Kurt came down and we ran the Clarendon 10K. It was a beautiful day and a good run. However, the bar crawl we created after the run probably undid any good the run did do :)

September was a great month! I apologize for taking so long to write about it. Maybe Next I can catch up on the rest of 2014!

ps: plans for BirthMonth 2015 are already in the works! Get ready :)